MADISONVILLE, Tenn. -- Despite 19 points apiece from Callum Sears and Colton McGriff, the Covenant Scots were ousted from the NCCAA Mid-East Regional Tournament by Bluefield College 80-74 on Thursday night in Madisonville.
Bluefield advances to play the region's second seeded Tennessee Temple on Friday night. Covenant ends the season with an 8-18 overall record.
Sears went 6-of-10 from the floor, including four 3-pointers, to go along with three rebounds and an assist. McGriff made all eight of his free throw attempts and pulled down six rebounds. Damien Chaney added six points and a team-high eight rebounds. TJ Cox dished out four assists.
Byron Carpenter led four Bluefield players in double figures with 20 points, including going 12-for-20 from the free throw line. Borgia M'Bala added 18 points, while Kearsten Marion and Andrew Wilson had 17 and 10 points, respectively.
Covenant took a quick 2-0 lead on a basket from Joey Danek, but M'Bala followed that with a 3-pointer to give Bluefield the lead. The Rams would not trail the rest of the contest. Bluefield gained a 25-12 lead with 5:13 left in the first half before Covenant made a run of its own.
Sears buried a 3-pointer to cap a 12-1 scoring run for the Scots that cut their deficit down to just two points at 26-24 with two minutes left in the first half. Sears scored eight points during the stretch. Bluefield would take a 35-28 lead into the halftime break.
In the second half, Covenant again found themselves down by 13 just minutes into the period. Again the Scots had the answer as Sears knocked down another 3-pointer to bring Covenant to within two points at 50-48. Jon DeVries' layup made it a one-point game with 9:02 left on the clock.
Trailing 76-70 with two minutes remaining, Covenant made one last push. A pair of free throws by Sears and McGriff made it 76-74 with 37 seconds left. The Scots' full-court press then forced a Bluefield turnover as Chaney came away with a steal in the backcourt. After a timeout, Cox had his mid-range jumper hit every part of the rim before falling out and into the hands of Bluefield's George Brooks. Bluefield then sealed the game at the free throw line.
Covenant shot the ball well from the field going 24-of-52 (46.2%) while connecting on 21-of-24 free throws. The Scots also outrebounded Bluefield 34-27. The Rams shot 50% (27-of-54) from the floor and knocked down six 3-pointers on the night.
